Making Progress

February 25, 2015 – Making Progress

I'm happy to report that Elliott is making progress.  Yesterday was a cold but bright day.  Around 11 o’clock in the morning, when Elliott had finished reading the newspaper, I turned to him and said, “Enough lounging around the house.  You’re going out with me.”  He was hesitant at first, but I assured him that he’d be okay.  And sure enough, for the first time in nearly three weeks, Elliott left the confines of home.  It was just for a short ride in the car while I ran an errand, but he was able to bask in the sunlight and view the amazing sights along Route 50 in northern Virginia.  He was even okay without supplemental oxygen for the duration of the ride (about 45 minutes), which his doctors recommended trying occasionally.  Of course, we had loaded an oxygen tank into the car – just in case.  And as soon as we got home, he reconnected himself to the oxygen concentrator.  We’re still waiting for the new portable equipment.  His pulmonologist’s office doesn’t seem to be in any great hurry to process the necessary forms and fax them back to the new oxygen supplier. 

Elliott's new toy?

In the meantime, there’s been another encouraging development.  No, Elliott is not involved with a new construction project.  I couldn’t resist snapping that photo in the Trader Joe’s parking lot this morning.  And while I’m on the subject of Trader Joe’s, I’d like to recommend a new wine I recently discovered there.  It’s a Sicilian red, Nero d’Avola.  (That’s the name of the grape.)  The wine is very reasonably priced, its deep ruby color looks wonderful in a glass, and it’s full of flavor.  I’m still scouting out low sodium products whenever I go grocery shopping.  In response to my request, Elliott wrote out a list of foods he’d like me to prepare for him.  I wasn’t surprised to see some of his long-time favorites, such as macaroni and cheese, but “lazonia?”  It took me a second to figure out that one!  Rest assured, Elliott, that lasagna will be on the menu soon.  It’s too bad he wasn’t interested in tasting my salt-free Indian braised cabbage.  With the onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, fennel, cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek, pepper, turmeric and lemon juice, it had plenty of flavor without any salt at all.  The recipe came from Olive Trees and Honey, a vegetarian cookbook by Gil Marks. 

Indian braised cabbage - without the salt

Anyway, back to Elliott’s project.  Every year, completing all the tax returns (my mother’s and Matt’s, as well as our own) has been a major project for Elliott.  This year, he seemed so tired that I hadn’t mentioned taxes to him.  Also, I was hoping to do the taxes myself before he noticed it was tax season.  In case you’re wondering why, it’s not that I love doing taxes, but it takes me about one-tenth the amount of time it takes when Elliott is in charge. 

So, I bought TurboTax, quietly installed it on the computer, and started working on my mother’s return.  Alas, a few days ago, Elliott made a comment about getting to work on the taxes.  Now 2014 tax prep is officially a Team Thompson project.  I’m afraid the inevitable result will be arguments, miscommunication, and frustration.  But we’ve survived it in the past, and I’m sure we’ll survive it again this year. 

And I have a new writing project.  The working title is Elliott Thompson:  The Complete Care and Maintenance Guide.  There’s a very practical reason behind this ambitious effort.  I’ll be going away for a few days in March (hurray!), visiting family and friends in southern Florida.  During the time I’m gone, Marshall has volunteered to take my place in the house.  The purpose of the guide is to give him the information he’ll need to ensure that Elliott receives proper care.  The deadline is rapidly approaching so I’d better get back to work on it.